Ichikawa Kei: Blue Sky Complex

This was very cute and, as usual for Ichikawa, the pacing was perfect. The first three chapters were from Narasaki’s (megane) rather matter-of-fact and mellow point of view. You see them go from strangers to something like friends with a few surprise kisses thrown in. Narasaki seems like he’s just along for the ride most of the time, but if he hadn’t decided on taking advantage of a few opportunities, they might not have gotten as close as they did.

I was already enjoying the story, but when it switched to Terashima’s point of view in the 4th chapter, it got even better. You get to see what he was thinking before they met and how he reacted to their first encounters in the library. And it’s just so funny and sweet how different their views were.

One of the things you don’t see in a lot of romance manga is someone talking about their “type.” I guess it’s primarily because there’s that “one true love” thing that most of them stick to. But I like the idea of characters who have a type or have dated before and it’s not an integral part of the plot. It was a brief moment in this story, but that it was there was good enough.

It would be awesome if Ichikawa got the opportunity to write more about them. Narasaki and Terashima make for a very interesting couple and they were super cute at the end, especially Terashima.